Role

Chapter 4

As he rose in the ranks, so did the notoriety of the slave master. Zieq
had come far enough that his loyalty was to him, and the brand meant
little. It had never happened before, but Zieq was freed from being a
slave. It was known and if he wanted to, he could have left the gates
to make a new life elsewhere.

He had often dreamed of leaving, but found that he enjoyed his life
even with the challenges and stares he received. He now operated as a
guide and a guard on the expeditions and rarely went down to the mines
anymore. If he did, a slave was likely to be beaten to death. This was
a rarity for they still viewed him as one of their own and the guards
still treated them better than they had before he had risen.

The guards were glad when he joined them on their expeditions, for he
had a keen eye and quiet step in the caverns. He would protect the
operation by striking from behind rocks or calling out ambushes. It is
easy to hate one who rose far when you do not until they save your life
repeatedly. At some point the guards had just become thankful he was on
their side.

As word spread about Zieq and talk began of finding more fire giant
slaves, the upper echelons of Aran'gird began to toy with the idea of
promoting the slave master to their ranks. It was not surprising that
a few did not want this to happen. The slave master was quietly
assassinated with no trace of the attacker. When Zieq learned, he took
a walk to think but found the stares far more hostile than they had
been the previous day. Zieq gathered the sword he had taken and left
immediately before his freedom became conveniently forgotten.